Michi ni Mayou
by Kiba aru Tenshi
Summary: A tale of darkness and deceit...lies, and heartbreak...where the imagination is stretched to the boundaries. It's the tale of the first miko, Takiko Okuda, and the world she finds inside a book.
1. Through a two-way mirror

Michi ni Mayou-the story of the Genbu no seishi. As with the story I'm writing about the Byakko, my friend and I made up the missing members of the Genbu...my only problem is we didn't have a storyline to accompany the characters, but this was quickly ameliorated, and I came up with a rough plot which only become more complicated as I go along and figure it out for myself.  
  
One warning; while I do not write lemons (there's enough horrible ones out there anyway) some of my stories do contain bits of homosexuality. Nothing graphic, nothing tasteless, and nothing that interferes greatly with the plot...but if you're one of those people that REALLY gets offended by the idea, please don't read. I don't want flames from homophobics ^_^.  
  
Byakkokokie@aol.com  
  
Prologue (In the forest of Hokkan)  
  
"A thousand other boys could never reach you. How could I have been the one? I saw the world swim beneath you, and scatter like ice from the spoon that was your world..."-John Rzeznik   
  
  
"When are mommy and daddy coming back?" The eight year old lifted his eyes to look up at his big sister, and even amidst her sadness May was taken aback by the striking color of their pink irises. She ran the back of her hand over her cheeks to wipe away the streaks of tears and tried her best not to sniffle as she spoke. She had to be strong, for her brother's sake.  
  
"I don't k-know Thanh...it's been a week. I'm sure they'll be back soon...it's been over a week already..." Already? One could hardly count these seven days of hell as short...each day stretched onward and drove that nail all the deeper into May's heart. Had it -only- been seven days since she had woke up to an empty house, with the only other inhabitants sleeping next to her, oblivious? It had all seemed like a dream, more a nightmare, in which she waded through the haze in bewilderment, her feet shackled to the spot and preventing her from moving forward. She would have never thought her parents would leave like they did...of course they had always -joked- about it, but those had just been jokes, right?  
  
Apparently not. They had taken off with just about every belonging that could be uprooted from its spot, and left her, Thanh, and their little brother Jen alone in the shack they had called home. Since she was eleven, May was probably the only one old enough who's mind was developed enough to register what had just happened. She had been able to fool herself for the first two days, saying they were just out at town, but in the depths of her heart she had always know what had really happened. Still, for her brothers she kept herself together, even when Thanh's innocent daily question ground against her like broken glass.   
  
"Okay...I hope they bring a toy for Jen..." Thanh turned away and plodded, like young children do, over to the basket where his infant brother lay. A thin stream of drool leaked from the corner of the deformed child's mouth, his mother had called the baby Beelzebub because he was so...malformed, but Thanh had always thought he was beautiful. They called Jen dumb, and a hassle, but there was an intelligence that lurked behind that mask, in those eyes that matched Thanh's in color, and they likewise, while sharing the same eyes, shared the same mop of sandy brown hair. Thanh knew mommy and daddy loved Jen though, because they treated Thanh in much the same way, called him dumb and ugly...but they loved him. Because parents are supposed to love their children.  
  
Thanh was too young to know any different.  
  
May picked herself up from the rotting wooden crate she had seated herself on and nodded, saying almost mechanically. "I'm sure they will, Thanh."  
  
It wasn't as though May still had the hope of searching the town for any signs of her parents; she had done that on the fourth day. Against the protests and wails of her siblings, who were afraid she would disappear to, she went into town and asked around...but it was as if their parents had disappeared into thin air. It was on that day that she had come to terms and admitted to herself aloud that they were long gone. That would mean she would have to be the mom for her brothers, but when she tried to get a job to pay for food...all the shopkeepers threw her out, saying the only jobs available to children was that of an apprentice, and that was only offered to boys, never girls.  
  
May's feet carried her to the mirror suspended crookedly at the opposite end of the room, though she couldn't remember wanting to go there. She stood and stared long and hard at her reflection, her dirty face, and stroked the luxurious locks of blue that reached down to her back. She was proud of her hair, it was the only thing daddy had ever complimented her on, and so she prided herself on it. She hated the track her mind was following at the moment, but for the sake of her brothers, she knew what had to be done...  
  
"Thanh...go get me a knife."  
  
Obediently, her brother stopped playing with a giggling Jen and disappeared into a nearby room, reappearing a moment later with a knife shaped out of animal bone. He carried it cautiously in both hands, fearing he would cut himself, and surrendered it to his sister. "Be careful May-chan, it's -sharp-"  
  
May nodded and turned away from the mirror, sucking in a gigantic breath of air. She wouldn't wimp out, not for her brothers, not for her family...the only people that would care for her. She picked up a clump of hair and held it level from her head, hearing Thanh gasp as she sawed the knife against it and shredded the strands of hair. "May! What are you doing?"  
  
She refused to answer, couldn't bring herself to speak as she bit down on her lips and continued the taxing process, taxing on her more mentally than physically. Finally she looked down and saw the pools of hair collecting at her feet, she dropped the knife in shock. What had she -done-?   
  
Squeezing her eyes shut, May turned back to face the mirror and slowly, cautiously, pried her eyelids open. A boy stared back at her in the dusty reflection of the mirror, a scruffy little boy with a bad haircut...but a boy nonetheless. May couldn't help it...she broke down and cried. The rich girls had always laughed at her when they spotted her in town, but she had always known that they were just jealous because of her hair...their insults didn't affect in the least, she had something her daddy was proud of, and she bet the other girls didn't have -that-. Now she didn't even -look- like a girl...  
  
As if reading her mind, Thanh cautiously tiptoed over to her and began to pet May's short shag of hair, gnawing on his lower lip as he worried about her sister.  
  
"It's okay May...it's okay. You're still a girl...see? The symbol on your shoulder says 'woman'...one day a boy will be happy for you to be his wife. You'll see May...you'll see..."  
  
Chapter One (Tokyo, Japan)  
  
"How do you document real life, when real life's getting more like fiction each day. Headlines, Breadlines blow my mind...and now this deadline 'eviction or pay'"-RENT  
  
"Now...the Pythagorean theorem is actually rather easily easy to remember...A squared plus B squared equals C squared...thus, to find the missing length, C, of this right triangle...we square the lengths of the other two sides and add them together..."  
  
Takiko clinched her fist around her pencil and tried her best to concentrate, but it was near impossible when every few minutes she felt the wet 'pat' of a spit ball hit the back of her head, followed by quiet snickers. Leave it to Kreuz-san to place her in the front, a direct target for all of the kids in the class who hated the reclusive girl, which was damn near all of them. Finally she turned around and glared at them, but their only response was to burst into fits of giggles, their laughter only doused when the teacher told them to hush if they didn't want to spend their after-school hours clapping erasers.   
  
When the bell finally rang, Takiko felt a wave of relief wash over her, and she returned her notebook and pencil to their home in the black satchel and strung it on her shoulder. She could hear whispers all around her as she walked down the halls and headed for the exit, rumors spread like wildfire in Yotsubadai, since she had moved here she had been subjected to the children's taunts...she made them nervous because she wasn't like them, and her father was said to be some eccentric archeologist who spent his nights robbing graves. She had even heard one rumor that said her father brought back dead flesh for them to eat at supper...  
  
Even at high school kids were immature.   
  
"Takiko! Hi!"  
  
Takiko swept her long raven hair back over her shoulder as she turned to see perhaps the only decent person in the entire school jogging up to her. Suzuno finally caught up with her and gave her a winded smile, which Takiko returned, somewhat cautiously. Suzuno was the daughter of her father's best friend, but Takiko was still somewhat cautious...it was hard to trust people when she had been stabbed in the back so many times. They resumed walking, though slower than Takiko's original pace, and rounded the corner as Suzuno spoke.  
  
"I'm glad I got to see you! You know how you and your dad are supposed to come to dinner tomorrow night?"  
  
Takiko gave an absent nod, her eyes zoning in on a pair of gawking kids from school who were more than likely wondering why someone as popular and pretty as Suzuno was hanging out with the school weirdo. She reached up and pulled a thin veil of black hair across her face, shying away from the comments. Suzuno was either unmindful of the comments or trying to be as gracious about them as possible.  
  
"Well...my cousin Riquel is coming, and...well, he's a really cool guy. I told him about you and he's excited about meeting you...so I kind of...sort of...set up a date for you two. Is that okay?...he's really cute!" She added the last part hastily, not knowing whether or not looks were an issue. Takiko felt her jaw almost drop open, but she kept herself from exclaiming...a -date-? What could Suzuno have told him that would possibly convince him that he should take a chance with her?   
  
The paranoid, and perhaps wiser, part of her brain was demanding that she come up with an excuse to escape from coming tomorrow...but the idea intrigued her. Takiko had never been on a date, boys never acted interested when they were around her. Even if she -would- end up only disappointing Suzuno's cousin, she couldn't resist finding out what it would feel like to be treated special. So she managed a meek "okay".  
  
"Really?" Suzuno gave her a dazzling grin, and for a stride there was an extra bounce in her step "That's great. So...do you want to stop and get some ice-cream or something or do you have to get home to study?" The spontaneous idea was spurred by the fact that they were nearing Ruby's Ice-cream parlor, inspired entirely by 50's Britain. Takiko debated it for a moment, but then shook her head.  
  
"I have to get home...my dad wants me to call him and I need to clean the house up before he gets off work..."  
  
"Oh? Okay...well I'll see you tomorrow then, right?"  
  
Takiko nodded and Suzuno smiled, waving before turning to follow the cross walk to the opposite block. She really was nice...Takiko thought with a soft smile of her own; maybe she would finally have a real friend. She guessed she'd have to ask Suzuno tomorrow if she could call her her friend, maybe Suzuno was just being nice.  
  
"Easter? Where are you?" Takiko cooed as she dropped her satchel at the entrance to the apartment she and her father shared. She whistled for her Persian kitty but it appeared that Easter was just being stubborn, so a minute later she gave up and wandered to the kitchen.  
  
A note from her father lay on the kitchen table, and she read through it once before pulling out a rag and cleaning fluid. "Takiko. Have to work late so here's money to order out pizza. Call Oosugi-san if you get scared about being alone. Please clean the study. Love you sweetheart, Dad." Her father never did manage to write more than fragmented sentences in his notes, a true representation of his character. Not that he -couldn't- write, but he was always so hasty to get things done. Takiko's dad told her he felt guilty about her having to clean so much, but really he was so rushed that Takiko preferred that she just go ahead and do it. Besides, focusing on one thing, like cleaning, helped her think.  
  
She fumbled with the house keys and found the one that unlocked the study, for some strange reason her father always locked up that room. Even if he would forget to lock up the front door, he wouldn't forget to lock the study. But who could blame him? Those four walls held in priceless valuables, his lifetime's work, essays...papers about artifacts and civilizations that dated back -thousands- of years. If Takiko stayed in there for a -year- she wouldn't learn all the knowledge that was present there to learn.  
  
It was dark and musty, there was only one lamp perched on her father's desk and no overhead light. She clicked on the little green lightly and sprayed cleaning liquid on her rag, and began to gently wipe it across her desk to rid it of the collecting dust. Cleaning made her remember how spotless her mom used to keep her old home...when she lived in France with the divorced woman. Takiko had barely known her father at the time; though he called often he could rarely take off the time to visit. But when her mother met her untimely death in a car accident...Takiko was shipped off to Japan to start a new life with her father.   
  
He was remorseful from the start, apologizing over and over again about making her move, but she knew he couldn't help it. Her father did every possible thing to try and make Takiko feel at home, feel welcome...and while she still felt out of place and ostracized, she loved her father for trying. He wasn't at all the distant, cold man Takiko's mother had spoken of. Busy, yes, but not cold.   
  
Accidentally, in the middle of her scrubbing the old oak desk clean, she bumped a book off the table. It looked as though it had been open, like her father had been studying it, and Takiko hoped she hadn't messed up any work of her father's. She dropped the rag and bent down, hoisting the book into her lap and searching for some kind of marker that would have held her father's place.   
  
An odd tingle ran down her spine as Takiko ran her finger down the binding of the book and cracked it open, almost as if holding it was exhilarating. It was written in Chinese, and Takiko's was pretty rusty, but she managed to struggle through the first few lines. It was almost like a...a spell. "Herein contains the tale of a young lady and her quest...to gather the seven constellations of Genbu together. And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine, and grant you your wish. For indeed the moment the page is turned, the story will become...reality."  
  
Unthinking, and in a stupor brought on by her bewilderment, Takiko read the words aloud, and then, carefully...turned the page. An odd feeling, a dizziness, enveloped her, made her feel like she was spinning. She tried to pull away from the book but it felt almost as if some force was pulling her into it. Takiko tried to scream but her breath was stolen, and all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and curl up, floating...spinning through an endless abyss.   



	2. Bloodbaths and bubbles

Chapter two  
  
"Burn all the good things in the Eden eye, we were too dumb to run, to dead to die. This was never my world, you took the angel away. I killed myself to make everybody pay." Marilyn Manson  
  
It wasn't until she felt a needle prick her foot that she awoke from a dream, and Takiko jerked her leg away, sitting up in an instant. She found herself in some badly lit cabin; scarves strung from window to window, partially covering the tops of some of the bookcases. Looking around in wonder, she told herself she must still be dreaming. The little woman at the foot of the bed she was on, however, seemed to break the dream-like quality of this reality.  
  
"We-ell, ye finally decided to wake up, did ye?" Her words were sodden and heavy with a strange accent, and when Takiko's eyes adjusted, she could finally focus on the 'foreigner'.   
  
Words were not at Takiko's disposal, so instead she sat on the bed and stared, rather rudely, at the woman. She looked as though she was only five feet tall, standing straight up, and she was the thinnest person Takiko could ever hope to meet. Pretty though, delicate, she reminded Takiko of a fairy...minus the wings. Around her neck were strung garlands of brightly colored beads, her wrists and arms littered in bangle bracelets and pieces of cloth. The woman was dressed in a flowing midnight blue skirt and a simple piece of white cloth that tied around her bust and covered her small breasts. Her hair was a dark chestnut, and pulled back in a complicated looking ponytail, her hair also riddled with a collection of jewelry.  
  
She stood at the foot of the bed, her arms crossed and a triumphant smirk gracing her face, waiting for Takiko to say something...anything.  
  
"Who...are you? And where am I??"  
  
"I am Ryelie, m'lady...and you somehow landed in the middle of our camp."  
  
"Your...camp?" Takiko blinked, and ran her fingers through her tangled hair, slipping off the bed and finding her bare feet digging into a soft woven beige rug. She didn't know why, but she felt nervous. The accents, the odd décor...where had she ended up?  
  
"Hai...the midnights relics, given where ye are I understand that doesn't sound familiar. We are but a band of traveling gypsies, and you...are our honored guest."  
  
With that, Ryelie lightly stepped across the room and pushed aside the cloth that served as a door. "Adei! Come! Come!"  
  
Takiko hadn't even the time to let those few words sink in before another figure slipped into the room, lithe as Ryelie's and as fluid in movements, but definitely male. Takiko was almost taken aback by how beautiful a man could get. His cat-like eyes, with oddly pink irises, were striking, and his sandy brown hair, cut short with several longer strands in the front, framed his finely boned face perfectly. He looked to Ryelie and then to Takiko, and said.  
  
"Is she the one?"  
  
"Sarita-sama said she was." Ryelie nodded with a smile "And you know what that means Adei..."  
  
"And won't you guys miss me?" the man gave a nonchalant smirk.  
  
"We'll make do, -somehow-" Even though her accent was heavy, Takiko could fully detect the sarcasm, even if she didn't know what they were talking about. Abruptly, however, Ryelie's tone changed "I don't know about Sarita-sama though...you know she sees you as a son."  
  
"Well she's been the only mother I can even remember. She took me in when I was...what? Nine? Ten?"  
  
"Eight was what she guessed, and I remember the day perfectly. You were such a scruffy boy..."  
  
"And now look." Adei spread his arms wide, several pieces of jewelry clinking together as he did so. He swept downward in a graceful bow and came up with a smile "I needn't remember my old life...this one is better by far."  
  
"Go on ye." Ryelie ushered him out the curtain-door "Tell Sarita-sama that the priestess is awake, and then ye can help out in the kitchen. You're not going to be free loadin' just because this is yer last night."  
  
When Adei was gone, Ryelie turned back to Takiko, who was still standing beside the bed. She read the confusion in Takiko's eyes, well who could blame the child for being confused?, and scratched her cheek in thought, before saying "I guess ye are wondering what's going on here, ne?"  
  
Takiko nodded silently. "Well, ye see...Sarita-sama, she is everyone's grandmother here, and it's like she has special...powers, special connections with the spirits. She's been having these dreams for months, dreams of -you-...the priestess of Genbu. I'm not sure if ye've caught on yet or not, but you're a very special person." Ryelie continued.   
  
"But why...I mean how..." Why was it all of a sudden so difficult to form complete sentences? Suddenly she felt like her dad, and she waved her hands in helpless frustration at her inability to convey the questions running through her mind. Ryelie interjected and cut her off anyway.  
  
"I'm not really one hundred percent sure, I don't even know if Sarita-sama. You'll get to talk to her tonight...after dinner, which I need ta' be helping prepare." She twirled a finger through one string of hair and danced for the door.  
  
"Wait! One more question." Takiko's hasty voice stopped Ryelie, and she raised her eyebrows in question as she turned around.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"You said...this was Adei's last night. Why did you say that?"  
  
"Adei is one of your guardians, priestess...from now on his life is your life. He can't live with us anymore."  
  
With that Ryelie turned and pushed the curtain aside, flouncing out the door.  
  
  
  
The dinner was exquisite. Of course, more than likely anything would have been when compared to the cheap microwave dinners she had been surviving on. Takiko savored each and every bite she put into her mouth, closing her eyes as she did so as if that would enhance the taste. Occasionally, one of the members of the clan of gypsies would glance in her direction, but by now Takiko was used to it.  
  
Or perhaps she was just too caught up in the food.  
  
Afterward, Adei led her to Sarita-sama's tent. She had not been present at dinner, so Takiko had yet to actually meet her. She tentatively pulled apart the flaps of the tents door and stepped inside.  
  
In here it was a much brighter place than Ryelie's cabin, or outside where the sun had set, candles lined the rather large tent and rugs were laid out on the ground, but there was no furniture. The old woman lifted her head as Takiko entered the tent, and when their eyes met, Takiko almost faltered. Her eyes...the old woman's eyes, it was like looking into a mirror, even though nothing else about her looked similar. Although the woman's face had wrinkles, it was an ageless face, she could have been anywhere from sixty to ninety years old. Sarita-sama had her fair share of jewelry, but it in no way surpassed the multitude of jewelry worn by her "children". She smiled, silent, and motioned for Takiko to come and sit beside her.  
  
"Did you enjoy dinner?" The woman asked.  
  
"Yes...very much so." Takiko still felt shy, but oddly comfortable, not nervous like she did around Adei or Ryelie. "Everything was delicious."  
  
"I would have come but I wanted our first meeting to be...uninterrupted. I'm sure you have plenty of questions, Takiko."  
  
Takiko nodded, keeping mute for the moment, although a question popped into mind instantly. 'How did you know my name?' ran through her mind, but she might as well have spoken it, because it seemed like almost all of these 'gypsies' were psychic.  
  
"I know a lot about you Takiko, although in some ways I know very little. I know that you have been chosen by our god...Genbu, he wants you for reasons I can not say, and it is your mission now...to summon him. Until you do that, you cannot go home."  
  
"H-how do I...?"  
  
"There are seven guardians that you must gather, each represent a constellation...when you get them together you can summon Genbu."  
  
"Where...?"  
  
"One of them is here. Adei...he is one of your seishi, he will go with you to find the other six. I know not specifically where they all are...but more than likely they are all up in Hokkan, the country not far from here."  
  
"Why do I need a...?"  
  
"The land is dangerous, Genbu designed seven guardians because you will -need- all seven...though for different reasons. Indeed this is a dangerous land, more so for you...because you are the priestess. I am not the only one that knows of this legend, others...will surely learn of your arrival, and some of them are dangerous."  
  
"...Oh." Takiko nodded slowly "are you...okay with Adei's leaving?"  
  
Sarita gave a soft hand and took her hand to her forehead, brushing aside frail strands of snow-white hair. "He is like a son to me...I love him as my own. Of course I love -all- of my children, but Adei has always been special because...I raised him. But I raised him knowing fully well what he would grow up to be. I worry for him, as any mother would, but I know this has to be done...I--"  
  
Sarita's voice was covered up by a surprised shout, and in a matter of seconds the camp erupted into a scene of chaos. Takiko glanced back at Sarita-sama and then clambered to her feet, scrambling to see what all the commotion was about. She could only hear bits of sentences "..protect Sarita-sama." "...you know what they want." But she couldn't stop anyone long enough to ask what was going on.  
  
Takiko looked around and finally, in the midst of the forest and heading their way, she saw a line of torches. A call rang through the campsite. "Arm yourselves! The Kikuchis have found us!"   
  
People ran back and forth, from one end of the site to the other, in a mindless panic. Takiko saw Ryelie rush past her, just as one of the first flaming arrows whizzed past her and singed a lock of hair. Takiko let out a surprised gasp, the arrow landed on one of the tents, and the cloth easily caught fire, the tent instantly ablaze in flames. She felt someone tug on her arm and she looked over to see Ryelie, her face wild with panic.  
  
"Come on! Come on! It's not safe for you here!!" Ryelie pleaded with Takiko as she continued to pull on her arm, attempting to uproot Takiko from her spot. It took her a minute to come out of shock before she nodded and the two of them took off.  
  
"I know a cove...we'll be safe there...the bandits don't know about it." Ryelie breathed her words heavily as she ran, keeping her grasp firmly on Takiko's wrist, a dagger in her other hand, the only weapon she had had time to grab up. She led Takiko through a maze of trees underlain with thick primary growth, a difficult terrain to cover quickly, yet somehow Ryelie managed, she had come this way many, many times with her mother when she was still alive. Finally the masses of unyielding trees gave in and dumped them out into a curve of blue grass that grew beside a weak, trickling stream.  
  
Finally Ryelie let go of her iron grip on Takiko's arm and dipped down by the stream, splashing her face with some of the running water. When Takiko looked down to inspect her pained wrist she noticed red marks from Ryelie's fingers and shallow indents from her nails. When her heart had calmed enough so that it was no longer lodged in her throat, Takiko spoke. "What just happened?"  
  
Ryelie wiped her hands across her cheeks and looked up from her little spot beside the water. "Those...are Kikuchi bandits, and 'officially' I suppose, we're on their territory. We were supposed to be gone a few days ago, to head to a new place, but Sarita-sama told us to stay...and I know now it's because of ye."  
  
"So...really, this is -my- fault."  
  
"No! Not at all!" Ryelie shook her head, regretting how her words sounded, though understanding perfectly why she had subtly laid the blame on Takiko. She was upset and angry that this had happened at all, but to not be able to fight along side her brothers and sisters...and to have to baby-sit some girl from another world who had no idea what she was doing and no way to defend herself...it was frustrating. -She- wasn't a Genbu no seishi, this wasn't -her- responsibility. Yet she said nothing to that tune. "Sarita-sama needs ye, she needs your help sh--"  
  
Cut off in mid-word, Ryelie gave a surprised gasp of pain and fell forward, burying her face in the grass. It was then that Takiko noticed the arrow lodged in her back. But who...?  
  
"Ne, so you're the one. The one Ketsueki spoke of."  
  
Across the stream, with a wooden bow still in hand, stood one of the bandits. He was a large man, not husky but by no means puny, who looked to be at least thirty, by his aged face, which held a rather smug smirk. Takiko over at him, and then rushed to Ryelie's side, not knowing what she was supposed to do. Remove the arrow? That seemed the most logical, and she tried to ignore the roars of laughter from the opposite side of the stream as she laid her palm flat on Ryelie's back, near the wound, and tried to dislodge the arrowhead.   
  
Takiko's hands became steeped in fresh blood as she worked the arrow loose. Ryelie was wincing but made very little noise, just an occasional gasp. Finally, her hands covered like bloody gloves, she freed the arrow and threw it to the ground. The arrow was gone, so why was Ryelie still withering and wreathing in pain?  
  
"Poison...poison was on that arrow missy, your friend is still dying." He shouldered the bow and waded across the river, nearing them. Takiko was torn, not knowing whether to stay by Ryelie's side or run from the bandit. Ryelie's voice came pleading as she struggled to get up.  
  
"Priestess! Ye have got to get out of here! Leave me! Please!!"  
  
But Takiko refused to leave her. Finally Ryelie managed to stagger to her feet, and she unsheathed her dagger from her hip. Standing in front of Takiko to protect her, her eyes were dark, cold...the color of charcoal. To Takiko she looked menacing, but she was obviously frailer than she appeared, because one energetic shove from the bandit caused her to topple over with a yelp of surprise and pain.   
  
Takiko tried to rush to her side, but the man's large hand shot out and grabbed a thick clump of her hair, tugging her backward and into his arms. He reeked, his breath putrid with the smell of alcohol, and Takiko gagged as he tightened his grip on her.  
  
"Now...you're goin' back with me. You'll fetch a pretty price I'll bet."  
  
A shadow fell over them, and the bandit barely had time to turn around before he felt a fish smack into his face, rings on possibly every finger of the hand digging into his forehead. He staggered but did not let go of Takiko, and thus, when the new aggressor dragged the bandit to the ground, she went too. She managed to scramble around while the other two were engaging in fisticuffs. Crawling back over to Ryelie, she glanced back and saw Adei pinning the man to the ground, but it was a very different looking Adei from the graceful and sarcastic man Takiko had met earlier, he looked...almost evil. No longer was he swathed in light clothes and tons of jewelry, now he was draped in a heavy black trench coat, a burning glare to his pink eyes, and only one necklace, an ankh, around his neck.  
  
In one fluid moment, Adei slipped off the necklace and pressed the ankh against the struggling man's chest. His eyes closed, and an emerald green light began to grow from the point of contact between his hand and the man's chest. Now the bandit was howling in pain, and fighting all the more to get Adei off him, but Adei wouldn't budge. A single shudder ran down the villain's spine before his head fell back, and he stilled.  
  
That pure evil faded from his eyes after he stayed there for a moment and panted, and finally Adei removed himself from the now dead bandit and turned toward Takiko. Shaking, and confused, she scooted away from him, but refused to move too far away from Adei's dying body. "S...stay away from me." She whispered, her eyes wide with fear as she dug her fingers into the soft dirt underneath her. She had seen evil in his eyes, and whether or not he had just killed her attacker, he frightened her.  
  
But it seemed like Adei had no intentions of hurting Takiko, really know interest in her at all. He instead wandered to Ryelie's side and knelt down, hoisting her up into his arms. Takiko raised her hand to protest, but said nothing, until Adei put his ankh against the bared v of Ryelie's collarbone.   
  
"NO! Adei! Don't kill her! Please!"  
  
"Takiko...she's already dead."  
  
That shut Takiko up, and she turned her head away, hot tears burning their way down her cheeks. She sniffled softly for a moment before curiosity gnawed at her, as to what Adei was doing, and she turned to watch him.   
  
The green light once again grew from underneath his hand, and this time Takiko was close enough to feel the heat radiating from it. This light was a softer green however, not the glaring iridescent emerald it had been before. It deepened in color, and the heat grew, accompanied by a high-pitched, barely audible, monotone note. Then the light died away and the heat faded.  
  
To Takiko, there seemed to have been no point to that, until she saw the thumb on Ryelie's left hand twitch. Takiko covered her mouth in shock, unbelieving of what she was seeing...but yes, Ryelie was now stirring out of her deathly slumber, and rising up slowly to a sitting position.  
  
"What...what did you do??" Takiko gasped in astonishment.   
  
"I cheated death, priestess." Adei informed her, rising to his feet as Ryelie did the same and placing the necklace back around his neck, so the ankh dangled freely at his chest. He kept one hand on Ryelie's shoulder to keep her steady. "It's my curse as a Genbu seishi."  



	3. Sacred moments

Chapter three  
  
"My god sits in the back of a limousine. My god comes in a wrapper of cellophane. My god pouts on the cover of a magazine. My god's a shallow little bitch trying to make a scene."-Nine Inch Nails   
  
"So...how did you learn you could do that?" Takiko asked tentatively, as the three of them ventured back to the camp to see what remained of their temporary home. "Or...could you always...do that to people?"  
  
"No." Adei's hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his coat as he trailed slightly behind them, his face pale from exhaustion. "Grandmother helped me learn how to channel my abilities. The gift to resurrect, that was all it was meant to be. But it has an adverse affect on living bodies, I learned that the hard way."  
  
"How?" One thing Takiko seemed to lack, as most young adults do, is the ability to know when -not- to ask questions. Adei seemed reluctant to answer the question, but finally he sighed and surrendered the story.  
  
"When I was younger, and just learning about my own capabilities, I wanted to test the limitations of them. Like any kid I was stuck on the "what if" questions, what if the person was decayed, could I use it if -I- died, but the one that got me screwed was wondering what it would do to a -living- body.  
  
"There was a girl I liked, Yduc, who was growing sick. I thought my powers included healing, miracle working in general, and I wanted to save her. So I tried...to use my powers on her. The end result was exactly like the bandit there; it was like I sucked out her life force...like an incubus. I tried...to bring her back, but it was irreversible. I -killed- her."  
  
Adei's face contorted in anger, and his mouth was partially ajar as if he was going to add more, emphasize on the rage he felt even now, but he grew silent when he realized they had reached camp. There were no more fires raging, but the place was decrepit. Scorched tents and bodies littered the ground, a battlefield where both forces lay in eternal rest. Takiko, Ryelie, and Adei had to step over and around bodies to get to the place where everyone clustered, around Sarita's tent.  
  
"How is she?!" Ryelie shouted when they were within hearing distance. "Is she all right?"  
  
Some of the others glanced over at them as they neared, all of them looked disheartened, and finally one shook her head. Adei's body went rigid in horror, while Ryelie darted inside the tent, telling herself over and over mentally that it couldn't be true.  
  
A few minutes later, the flap of the tent was pushed aside and Ryelie stepped out. She kept her head bowed, and her hair hid her face as she murmured. "Priestess...Sarita-sama wants to speak with ye before..." her voice wavered and a lump in her throat choked her off, threatened to make her cry if she spoke any more. Takiko looked from Adei to Ryelie and nodded mutely, stepping into the tent.  
  
Trying to hide the wound that had been created when he learned of Sarita's ill condition that was only worsened when it seemed she didn't want to speak with him in her final moments, Adei turned to Ryelie and asked softly. "What did she have to say? I mean...did the two of you talk?"  
  
"Yes..." Ryelie nodded, her eyes downcast. "She...she wants me to take her place, when she's gone. But I could never! I mean...no one could ever be our mother like Sarita-sama, I don't even want to try!"  
  
"Takiko?"  
  
Takiko looked up as she stepped into the tent, the cloth walls seemed sag downward, and they gave her a sense of claustrophobia. She delicately took her place beside Sarita's cot and took her hand, feeling as though it was needed at this time. "Yes...Sarita-sama."  
  
"Call me grandmother...Adei always did."  
  
"All right, grandmother." Takiko whispered.  
  
"Takiko I am going to tell you something...you will not want to hear, and I am going to ask something of you that you will not want to do, but you -have- to, you have to promise me you'll do it." Her voice came as though her voice box was rusted, not at all the melodic quality it had been before, she coughed into her hand and lay her head back, staring up at the roof of the tent.  
  
"I promise."  
  
"Gypsies are much like pagans, we live in and with nature, so we have learned much from it. Being a gypsy is not just about thievery, dancing and jewelry, though that is probably the first impression you get...it is about communing with a power greater than you, greater than humanity, giving up your idealized shallow society in search of a deeper meaning. It is because of this, that my body, my mind...is open to learn things, like about you...and the world, and along with your arrival I have learned this world is dying.  
  
"There is a balance to everything in nature, a spirit world to paradox the physical one, a male to parallel a female, and an evil to keep the good in check. It has always been this way, there has always been a balance, but now the scales are being tipped...and in the end this can mean only devastation.  
  
"There are four gods for the four empires, Hokkan, Konan, Sairou, and Kutou. On the opposite are four demon-like creatures whose powers rule over the spirit world; in mythology it was always known as the underworld. Now it seems that one of those demons hungers for more than his fair share of the spirit world, he wants the physical world too. He wants to lock away Genbu and banish his powers, that was why Genbu summoned you here, because only with your help can he rid this world of the demon. Those bandits attacked not because were on their territory, but because they were being controlled...they came here to kidnap you and take you to that demon, whomever he is.  
  
"You have to gather together the seven constellations...because until you do this world is in grave danger. Promise me you will find them..."  
  
"I...I promise." Takiko finally managed to get her lips to work, though she could barely even register her -own- words, none of this could be real, this wasn't scientifically possible, in a world of realism and fact, this just wasn't...plausible. It couldn't be explained, it didn't make sense...  
  
But that was the world she had left behind, and she had a feeling that in this new world almost anything was possible. She left when Sarita asked her to go fetch Adei, and didn't say a word as she watched people mill past her. Their mouths moved but she couldn't hear what they were saying, for the time she was lost in the world of her mind, and she wasn't quite sure if she was ready to leave.  
  
Adei took his place beside Sarita and grasped her hand, kissing it as he watched her with watering eyes. He said quietly "...I will save you, grandmother."  
  
"No, Adei...this you cannot fix, and even if you could I wouldn't wish you to. You can't reverse time, Adei, and my body is getting too old to work right anymore...my bones ache, and its getting harder to see and hear. I don't want to die unable to hear the birds or see the sunset, and I'm sure you don't want to condemn me to that kind of life." Her lips formed a tired smile as she fixed her clear blue ageless eyes on her adopted son. "It hurts so very badly now, but I couldn't go before seeing you again..."  
  
"Please, grandmother. You rescued me...let me rescue you! I can't possibly survive alone..." His grip on her hand tightened as he buried his face in the blanket that covered her, and for a moment he was the same defenseless little boy that he had been when their paths had collided. Sarita's heart broke for her child, but she knew there was no way she could do what he was asking for her to do.  
  
"You won't be alone Adei, this...journey, will provide many discoveries for you, that will give you a better understanding of yourself and others, and when you are through...if you wish, you may return home to the gypsies. Ryelie and the others will welcome you with open arms I'm sure. Please don't make this any harder Adei...I'll be fine, as will you...and everyone..."  
  
Adei tilted his head up and looked at her once more, though the pleading was gone, replaced by a resigned acceptance of the fate she was speaking of. He sat up a bit straighter and leaned in, kissing her forehead with trembling lips. "I love you grandmother..."  
  
"I love you too Adei, you were the son I was never blessed enough to have." Her eyes closed as she settled back and relaxed into the bed, her hold on Adei's hand loosening.  
  
"Grandma!" Adei choked out a protest, but all he could do was rub his cheek against the back of her hand, there was no cheating this death, or this separation. There was no way he could bring back possibly the only person who ever had and ever would care about him like she did.  
  
"Goodbye..."  
  
  
"How is she?"  
  
When he stepped out of the tent, the group had scattered for the most part, leaving only Takiko and Ryelie behind.   
  
"...Dead."  
  
"Oh Adei..." Takiko started, but he shook his head and cut her off.  
  
"Hatsui. Adei is dead."  
  
Ryelie blinked in confusion, but they both managed a slight nod.  
  
"Come on priestess...we should pack up and go, we want to get to Hokkan as soon as possible, and we don't know when and if those bandits will be back."  
  
Takiko got up and followed Hatsui to his tent, where he began to throw together several odds and ends that looked like they held more personal value than practical. She wanted to say something, anything that might help or ease the tension...but she was too scared. Hatsui once again seemed so...cold, only there was not the out of control rage that had been present before. She didn't say anything, and so Hatsui made no attempts to offer up a conversation, and the two left the camp in silence, both of them questioning exactly what would be expected of them in the future, and whether or not they could meet the standards set before them.  
  
The road to Hokkan was a lonely one.  
  
  



	4. Stigmata

Chapter four  
  
"If you should go skating...on the thin ice of life. Dragging behind you the silent reproach of a million...tear stained eyes. Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice appears under your feet. You step out of your depths and out of your mind...with your fear flowing behind...as you call 'thin ice'"-Pink Floyd  
  
Their worn feet finally led them off the trail and to a small town that lay just outside the boundaries of Hokkan. Tired and dejected from progressing little in the hours they had traveled, Takiko timidly requested that they stay there for the night to rest up.  
  
Hatsui didn't even look at her when she spoke, but managed a mute nod and veered off in that direction.  
  
"...Kind of...deserted, don't you think?" Takiko spoke, looking down at her feet and watching tiny clouds of dust float up whenever her feet hit the path. She was clawing for any kind of conversation that might kill the silence between them, Hatsui's chill only amplified whenever the two of them were silent. Perhaps hearing him speak was being a bit too hopeful, as the only answer she got from him was another nod.   
  
Well, let him mourn...Takiko thought to herself...he just lost the only parent he'd ever known.  
  
Hatsui's track of mind when instantaneously from self-pity to paranoia when they reached the mouth to the small town, it looked more than deserted, it looked hastily abandoned, like the citizens had run from whatever they were doing in a hurry. The wheel of an upturned toy wagon was still whirring at a steady pace. He opened his mouth to speak when the air was knocked out of him from a blow to his back. Falling forward, his arms shot out to keep him up, and he used them to propel his body backward and managed a roll to whirl him around to the front. Agility had its perks.  
  
What he faced when he stood up was a crowd of twenty or thirty angry looking people, a mob which varied in sex, age, and color. All of them looked slightly unkempt and dirty, though by no means savage-like, even if the gleam to their narrowed eyes spoke along different terms. One of them had pinned Takiko down long enough to bind her wrists together, and kept her off to the corner, where she struggled in a vain attempt to be free. When Hatsui started for her, two of the villagers shot out and grabbed his arms, pulling him backward.  
  
"WHAT is your problem?" Hatsui growled, his eyes flashing, but he didn't make an attempt to use his powers against the two holding him back...he had already tasted death once that day, he didn't wish to do so again, so soon.  
  
"We know exactly why you're here, demon! And no Ketsueki no -hitogoroshi- will make it past this town!" The voice of one of the men that held him back had risen as to a shout as he spoke, and Hatsui had to curve his neck away to avoid the assault on his eardrums.  
  
Of course neither Hatsui nor Takiko had the faintest idea of what they were referring to, and if by hitogoroshi they meant murderer...  
  
Was it fathomable that these people were somehow related to the Kikuchi bandits?!  
  
A sudden panic seized Hatsui, but he would not let it show, for Takiko's sake. His eyes took in the mob before him, and he gestured with his hands, palm-up, in a means to emphasize on his innocence...or at least Takiko's. "Listen...I don't know what you're talking about...but we're no -murderers-, we're just here to..."  
  
"We do no wish to listen to your lies!" A middle-aged woman, complete with mousy brown hair, an apron, and a child, cried. "You will die and be sent back to the hell you came from. Stone them!"  
  
With that, Takiko was released and thrust into the center of the circle. She stumbled over to Hatsui, who caught her before she fell face first into the ground. The crowd closed in around them, as the people picked up stones and stepped closer, their eyes glowering with hate.  
  
The first rock cast at them smacked into Hatsui's shoulder, he winced but didn't make much of an effort to move. Takiko cowered next to him, trembling, but when he tried to protect her, she refused to let him take the brunt of the blows. The lazy pace of the rock throwing steadily increased, and it was hard not to wince and cower when a stone slid into your jaw with a sharp force.  
  
Takiko coughed and pleaded for them to stop, over and over, but the crowd was unrelenting, even when the two's legs gave out from underneath them and they collapsed onto the ground, bleeding. Takiko felt a haze creep up on her vision, but a deep, commanding voice cut through the cheers of the crowd.  
  
"On orders of the palace, stop this at once!"  
  
The people turned, and Hatsui could see them cringe at what they saw. Through his blood stained vision he saw a man seated on a ginger-coated horse, his feather like silver hair pulled back in a ponytail. He was clad in armor and he had a look of importance to him, but the thing that seemed odd and out of place on his otherwise perfect face was a patch covering his right eye. He tugged a bit on the horse's reins and it stepped forward slowly, the crowd parting automatically to give the man a path to the bleeding pair.  
  
He hopped off his horse and knelt down, checking both of their vital signs before turning to the people and saying. "These are not your demons! The people that you would have stoned to death are the only hope this empire has anymore!"  
  
He turned back toward them to help them up, but Takiko couldn't muster a word as he untied the rope from her hands. The side of her face was caked with blood and dirt, and she felt so impossibly dizzy. It was almost like her existence was fading, she slid her eyes shut and let her consciousness ebb out and let the blackness wash over her.  
  
  
Something soft tickled her nose and made her sneeze, and when Takiko opened her eyes she found herself atop that horse she had seen earlier...had seen that man riding. How had she gotten onto it? Moving her head over to the right, she saw the general-looking man with his hand attached to the reins, his head turned toward Hatsui as he led the horse slowly onward...their voices seemed detached, but as she concentrated she could make out what they were saying.  
  
"...is why they attacked us then, ne?" Hatsui sighed, his good arm clutching the one that throbbed with every step he took. He could feel the blood gluing his coat to his arm, but the feel of it was really nothing he wasn't used to, he had become numb to the sight when he went through a bout of masochism.   
  
"Yes." The man nodded "The real Ketsueki no hitogoroshi's have shown up in recent months...ever since the gateway between worlds broke...nothing is the same anymore."  
  
Takiko stayed silent, to mesmerized by the light-haired man to speak. Finally he turned his head and lifted his gaze to her, a small smile gracing his face. "Good to see you're up...don't worry, we're almost to the palace."  
  
"The...palace?" she murmured dreamily.  
  
"Hai...the palace of Hokkan, the emperor wants to meet you. That's why I, Hikitsu, was sent to find you...and it's lucky that I came when I did."  
  
"You could've come before." Hatsui said with a slightly bratty smirk, his pink eyes narrowed to slits as he focused on the terrain ahead, and the palace held within the town they were narrowing. "-That- would have been lucky."  
  
"Thank you..." Takiko hastily interjected, when she saw a frown begin to pain itself onto Hikitsu's face "We're so grateful you can by...aren't we, Hatsui?"  
  
The only response Takiko got was a sarcastic snort...well; at least he was no longer ignoring her.  
  
The palace they neared was nothing short of spectacular, though it was surrounded by a feel of foreboding and death, the palace itself seemed untouched, as if it glowed with a holy light. It had to be at least four stories, stacked much like a staircase, with outdoor hallways running along each of the floors. It was surrounded by four flat houses, homes for the servants, Takiko guessed, and grand columns shot up from the earth, ending in large teardrops. It was glossed over with pearl, and beautifully kept flowers spiraled out from the palace and created floral pathways around the servant's homes.   
  
The bright feel of the palace seemed to leak past the walls that surrounded it, but it quickly faded into the black that loomed over the rest of the city. People shuffled about from house to house with no real expressions gracing their faces, but as the passed them on their way into the palace; one of the citizens lifted his head and smiled to Takiko.  
  
"Daddy!" a little voice cried, and Hikitsu knelt down just in time for a little four-year-old boy to hurl himself into his open arms. Hikitsu's face instantly brightened as he wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tightly.  
  
"Suru! You know better than to be out past your bedtime. Come on...let's get you inside."  
  
Hikitsu hoisted his son up into his arms and smiled to Hatsui and Takiko, while Suru picked at Hikitsu's silvery brown ponytail. "I'm sorry...I have to put Suru to bed, the servants will take you to the emperor and then to your rooms...and I'll be in there to speak with you."  
  
Takiko nodded and sat up on the horse a bit, adjusting her seat so that she would be able to see more. She watched Hikitsu disappear into the palace before two less than cheery servants showed up and helped her down. One led the horse away, while the other led them both by the hand through the grand doors that yawned wide for them and down a marble hallway that led to what Takiko guessed had to be the throne room.  
  
The servant left Takiko's side and walked up to the golden trimmed doors, tugging them up with a grand gesture. Takiko kept her left hand cupped above her elbow as she stood there and watched, nearly paralyzed, her head spinning from the dizziness her injuries caused.   
  
Hatsui was like a statue beside her, and offered no comfort, not that she had expected any from him, anyway. The servant maneuvered her way back over to them and once again led them, through the doors that emptied out into a large room, which was nothing short of spectacular.  
  
Scrolls, paintings and pottery all lined the walls, which were painted a dim, almost gray, blue. By contrast, the throne on which the emperor was poised on, along with the surrounding chairs and pillows, were a crimson red, so dark that it looked as though they had been stained with blood. The servant bowed when she got within ten feet of the throne, and thus so did Takiko...though Hatsui didn't bother.  
  
"Please..." the emperor held up one hand, and offered a wrinkled smile "There is no need, lady Takiko...if anything, I should be bowing to you." He offered a wry laugh, which fluttered lightly throughout the room. Takiko looked up and gave a small smile, accompanied with a nod, and got to her feet.  
  
"...I know...the capitol of Hokkan doesn't offer much in the ways of hospitality anymore, but I can see your wounds are more than just bumps, and as such I can offer only the best hospitality we have. You may stay in the palace as long as you need before starting out on your journey."  
  
"That's...very gracious your majesty." Hatsui spoke up, peeling his hand away from the bloodstain at his hip "but time is something that we haven't, honestly, got...and if you know what's going on, you know that."  
  
The emperor sighed and nodded slightly, letting his eyes drop to the ground. "Yes...I know."  
  
"Then don't expect us to stay longer for a night or two...and honestly, right now I need to get to sleep."  
  
Takiko felt herself cringing at Hatsui's lack of respect, but if the emperor seemed upset, he didn't show it. Indeed, he had had reign over the country for some time, and wasn't some young, eager emperor vying for respect, he had seen enough to know when and when not to throw his weight around. He just nodded slowly and held his hand up, gesturing toward the servant. "Nye...will you show our honored guests to their rooms, and make sure they are visited by a doctor in the morning?"  
  
The girl managed a short nod, followed by a bow, before turning and leading the two out once again. The trek through the maze of halls to the wing that held the prepared rooms felt impossibly long to Hatsui, who felt a spark of pain shoot up his leg every time he stepped forward. He said nothing, however, and only gave a soft sigh of gratitude when they apparently reached their destination. Hikitsu seemed to be blocking their path, however, and ushered them into what would be Takiko's room...shutting the door behind them.  
  
"I know you two are tired...but I should be in town all tomorrow doing work so, if you had any questions...I thought now would be the only opportune time to ask them."  
  
"Yeah..." Takiko nodded, and looked backward before edging to the bed and easing down onto it. "I was kind of wondering why those people called us demons of...Ketsueki."  
  
"Hitogoroshi. And why they tried to stone us to death." Hatsui scowled, leaning back against the wall.   
  
Hikitsu ran his fingers through his hair, and yanked the band from it so his hair was no longer held back but tumbled freely down his shoulders. "The villagers thought you were...well...the exact opposite of what you are."  
  
"Come again?" Takiko blinked.  
  
"Well Ketsueki would be considered the exact opposite of Genbu. Genbu is holy while Ketsueki is...not, Genbu controls Hokkan in a physical sense, and Ketsueki used to control it in a spiritual sense...but the demon god apparently wanted more than his fair share. So, to -help- him he created, out of shrine spirits, seven Hitogoroshi to counter balance the seven seishi."  
  
"Did they...do this to your country?"  
  
"They helped, but they didn't do all of it...no. Seven spirits, or seven men, can only do so much. The boundaries that separate the spiritual from the physical are weakening thanks to Ketsueki...and now...spirits as well have free reign, and are able to wander lost in Hokkan. People are -terrified- to leave their houses for fear of what they'll find...businesses are failing because no one works, and there's a food and clean water shortage. Everything is deteriorating...  
  
"But all of -that- will come to an end." Hikitsu told them, his face brightening a bit with his optimism "Because as soon as you two are well enough to travel, we shall find the city of Secaar."  
  
"What's there?" Hatsui asked as he covered his mouth to hide a yawn.  
  
"A priest...who, I've heard, carves the holistic daggers capable of killing the hitogoroshis. That is perhaps the only way we shall send them back to hell." With a smile, Hikitsu headed back for the door. Seeing that as the invitation to let him go to his own bed and sleep off all that wore on his body, Hatsui wandered for the door as well.  
  
"Wait!" Takiko's voice made Hikitsu turn around and Hatsui stop, waiting, in his tracks.  
  
"That kid we met...Suru...he's your son, right?"  
  
Hikitsu nodded with a tiny smile "Hai...before I was one of the emperor's palace guards I lived with a woman named Yume. We were young but...we were in love, and we had a child when I was only seventeen."  
  
"What happened to her?" Again, Takiko's inability to know when -not- to ask questions.  
  
Hikitsu's expression shifted, for a moment he looked melancholy "She...killed herself when the emperor's brother wanted to take her as a wife and threatened to arrest me. Suru is all I have left that reminds me of her..."  
  
He smiled gently "He told me...that one day he would be a palace guard like me so that I would be proud of him. Funny how children never seem to realize...that there's never a time when you -start- being proud...from the day they're born you're so filled with it you might as well burst."  
  
Chuckling softly "...and then they smile at you, and you know...there's nothing like the love of a child. You're their link to the world."  
  
With that he turned and left the room and Takiko finally laid down to go to sleep. She lay awake thinking for the longest time, digesting everything that had happened to her in such a short period of time...the bandits, the gypsies, Hatsui, Sarita-sama...but mostly...she thought of her father and how he must be feeling about her disappearance. She felt a guilt she couldn't get rid of, but there was no way she could get back, and really...all she could vow to do was gather the seishi as soon as possible and get back to her world. Maybe she would be allowed one selfish wish, and if so...  
  
...She'd wish for happiness.  
  
Takiko closed her eyes, and wouldn't open them until the pre-dawn hours when someone would shake her awake, urgently whispering in her ear. Her dreams took her to possibilities of the future, and suddenly...not one of them looked as bleak as they did before.  



	5. Impurities

Chapter five  
  
"Alone within a storm, and losing hope he clears the leaves beneath the trees. Seven stones, lay on the ground, within the seven thousandth rain was found, and the changes of no consequence will pick up the rains from nowhere. Nowhere..."-Genesis  
  
"Please..." The emperor, down on his hands and knees and pleading for the first time in his life, bowed his head "You can have anything...just don't hurt my daughter!"  
  
The man standing opposite the bowing emperor tore his eyes from the twelve year old girl and grinned maliciously down at the old man, who had fallen from grace and turned into a decrepit sorry creature in a matter of minutes. Amazing what a little 'persuasion' could do. He blew a lock of crimson hair out of the way of emerald eyes that burned into the emperor's.  
  
"The dynasty must fall."  
  
The emperor's pupils shrank as he pulled back and got to his feet. "What..."  
  
His daughter opened her mouth to let out a high pitched scream, struggling to get away and digging her own throat into the knife that was trained so closely to it, the blood almost instantly cascading down the blade onto the man's hand. Her eyes were wide open in a fixed, unseeing gaze and he released her, letting her fall forward into her father's arms.  
  
"Serra?" The emperor choked out, and stared down to a see the smoking burn in the shape of a handprint on his daughter's back. The blood she vomited ran down the sleeve of his robe, and also for the first time in his life he felt like screaming. Genuine gut wrenching, outraged, helpless screaming. Tears leaked out of the inner corners of his eyes as he laid his daughter out on the steps that led up to his throne. He kissed the tip of his finger and put his finger to his daughter's lips, the hand coming away wet with blood.  
  
"Oh Genbu...Serra." He took in a deep shaky breath, but instead of standing there shaking and crying, he stood and turned to face his daughter's killer, a dark shadow crossing his face. His hand tightened around the handle of the sword at his hip, and he unsheathed it.  
  
It took every ounce of strength to keep himself from shaking, but he stood like an immoveable boulder. The red-head just stood there and smirked, one hand set on his hip as the other danced a tiny flame from finger to finger, before a single stream of air blew the flame out. His grin widened when he saw the emperor come at him with his sword raised, and although the seconds that separated the recognition from the impact were minuscule, he managed to side step his sword.  
  
The emperor's eyes widened in surprise as he felt the sharp tip of a sword bite into his stomach, he looked down to see the gleaming metal plunged deep into his gut. His mind barely had time to register the events and he lifted his eyes to see another man that must have come up behind the one that murdered his daughter. His dark blue hair flowed down his shoulders, but several strands were stuck to his cheeks with blood, as if he had spent quite some time slaying, and took a great amount of pleasure in it. This new man grinned, but the emperor noted with some confusion that it didn't seem like he was looking -at- him, but like he was looking -through- him. Was this...was his killer blind?  
  
"The dynasty must fall." He repeated the previous man's words, though his seemed to have a thundering volume in the emperor's mind. He yanked the blade from his gut and the old man fell back onto the steps, into a pool of his daughter's blood. His eyesight was unfocused and gazed upward pointlessly as his very existence teetered unstably in front of his eyes. The two figures of the men loamed in front of him, and one thing he could focus on was the hatred that graced their faces. He couldn't understand -why- his guards had turned on him, or why these men hated him so much, but for the first time he didn't...care.  
  
So many firsts, so many firsts. They say that for those who kept a lock on their insanity and delirium, are subjected to mind numbing confusion in their final moments, everything they kept locked away in their minds over the years is finally set free. The emperor's vision faded out, as did his life, with the voice of a woman whispering in his ear.  
  
"...there were so many choices."  
  
  
Takiko's heart raced like an anxious rabbit's as Hikitsu tugged her down the palace's back hallway, Hatsui trailing silently not far behind. She wasn't quite sure what was wrong, only that she had been stirred from her peaceful dreams in the pre-dawn hours of the morning and dragged from her bed, screaming echoing through the halls. It was so cold...Takiko saw her breath in short-lived white puffs, but she had no time nor any desire to complain about her discomfort, to make noise now would be unwise.  
  
Once they were outside Takiko finally felt brave enough to speak. "Hikitsu, wh-where are we going??!"  
  
"To the stables...I have to get you out of here."  
  
"Why?!"  
  
"The palace is under siege and I assume it's by the hitogoroshis, if I don't get you out of here they're likely to kill you."  
  
"But...you're a palace guard, isn't your duty to protect the emperor?"  
  
Hikitsu threw a saddle onto the bored looking mare's back and slapped its thigh lightly to get the horse's attention. "I'm also a Genbu seishi, thus my first duty is to protect -you-."  
  
Despite his words of confidence, Hikitsu glanced back at the darkened palace as Takiko climbed clumsily up onto the horse. His heart was torn between his loyalty to his priestess and his duties to his country. He had to reason with himself to be sure that he was doing the right thing, while the guilt would always exist for abandoning his emperor in a time of need, if the rest of the palace guards could not hold off those seven hitogoroshi there was nothing he could do alone, not without the right weapon, and if they managed to take Takiko then all really -was- lost, the seishi were useless without their miko. He was prepared to climb onto his horse with an urgent voice broke through his thoughts.  
  
"Daddy! Daddy...HELP!"  
  
He dropped the reigns of the horse and ran out of the barn, his head moving left and right as his eyes searched wildly for the source of that voice. Then out of the bushes his son emerged, running for him with his arms outstretched. Hikitsu stepped forward and opened his arms, catching the boy much like he did the day before when his son ran to him.  
  
"Suru...Suru...thank god you're all right."  
  
"I heard noises, Daddy, the noises woke me up...but I did what you said and I took the secret exit so that they wouldn't catch me. I did good." It would be normal for any child to be shaking in fear, but Suru was beaming in pride. Hikitsu gave a little nervous laugh and nodded slowly.  
  
"Yes...Suru, you did very good."  
  
A flash of movement caught the corner of Hikitsu's eye, and he looked up to see an archer aiming his arrow. He nearly yelped in surprise, trying to roll to pull Suru out of the path of the weapon, but only succeeded in pulling his son -in- its range. The arrow struck his son's side.  
  
Hatsui was on the enemy in a second, grinding his fists into the meek looking man's face as he pleaded with him, telling him it was only his -job-, as if murder was more justifiable when you it was someone else's wish you were carrying out, not your own. Hikitsu, however, was too stunned to react right away, his son fell forward into his arms and his weight sagged against his shoulder, as if he were nothing more than a sack of potatoes.  
  
"I'm okay...dad..." Suru whispered weakly, and Hikitsu pulled back to look into his son's bloodshot eyes. A bit of blood mixed drool leaked out of the corner of Suru's mouth, but Hikitsu wiped it away with the cuff of his sleeve. "You have to go protect the priestess now..."  
  
"You'll be all right, Suru..." Hikitsu lied, his eyes trailing down to the arrow which was well lodged into his third and forth rib. To remove the arrow would only further damage to his son, and increase the pain he was going through at that moment. He smiled weakly into his son's eyes and pet his cheek lightly "It'll all be okay..."  
  
"I know daddy, I'm going to get to visit mommy now. I hear her, sometimes at night, she sings me to sleep when I get scared...mommy's been alone for a long time...I have to go see her."  
  
Hikitsu could barely shake his head as he trembled, tears threatening to spill down his cheek. Why was it that he was a quivering mess when his son, his four-year-old son, was only smiling angelically. He refused to believe that his baby was dying; it had only been four years, four -measly- years that he had a chance to experience life, and yet...he acted like he wanted to go. He closed his eyes and drew in a raspy breath, which was cut short when he felt tiny finger trailing across his cheek and wiping away his tears.  
  
"Don't cry daddy, it'll be okay...me and mommy will wait for you but you know what you have to do first."  
  
Hikitsu nodded slowly and clutched his dying child tighter in his arms, and felt Suru's frail arms surround his neck. He opened his mouth to speak yet no words came, no words of comfort, or denial, or pleading...just the sound of his breathing and the chirping of crickets hidden in the knee-high grass. He felt a wetness against his cheek, not his own tears, but...his son's.  
  
"Goodbye daddy...I love you..."  
  
He couldn't even return the statement; he didn't have the time, before his son's body went limp, no longer suspended by the marionette strings of his soul. Hikitsu felt a dry lump lodge in his throat, and he couldn't help it, squeezing his son as if that would somehow make it better, he cried out to Genbu....asking him why he would steal a young child from the world and then have the nerve to demand from him a service, not even giving him time to grieve for his son.   
  
When the words of rage died down, Hatsui stepped forward. "If...you want me to Hikitsu, you know what I can do..."  
  
"No." Hikitsu's words were clipped, more so than he meant to be, as he shook his head "don't...try to bring him back. He said this was what he wanted...and I wouldn't dream of asking any more of him than I already have."  
  
The sun's rays once again spilled over the horizon as it readied itself for its journey across the sky, at the same time that the last shovel of dirt fell into Suru's hastily made grave. Takiko knelt down and set a necklace of daisies on the unmarked slab of stone, turning away and into Hatsui's arms for comfort. Hikitsu kissed the stone lightly and closed his eyes, saying quietly "I promise you I'll join you and your mother when this is all over...when this is over..."  
  
"Where are we going now?" Takiko whispered, peering up through a veil of black hair.   
  
"To Secaar." Hikitsu said finally, with a sigh, casting his eyes to the mountains in the north "Once we get what we need we'll give those fucking bastards exactly what they wished for when they stole my life. Hell"  
  



	6. Endless shadows

Chapter six  
  
"Father, son...locked as one, in this empty room. Spine against spine, yours against mine, 'til the warmth comes through. Remember the breakwaters, down by the waves, first found my courage...knowing daddy could save. I could hold back the tide, with my dad by my side." Peter Gabriel  
  
Takiko gave the white muzzle of her horse a farewell pat as she removed its harness, discarding it in the bushes. She sighed and turned to Hikitsu "are we sure we can't ride the horses over the mountains?"  
  
"They're not goats...they couldn't handle the footing. It might be possible for them to make the trip, but not without a lot of pain and damage done to them." Hikitsu told her. He was no longer grieving, not outwardly at least, he had managed to pull all of his emotions into him, and though it seared through his mind like a fear, he hid it well. Acting upset would only hinder their ability to accomplish their goals, not to mention it would be selfish...when he could already tell all the grief had gotten to Takiko as well. Hatsui seemed unaffected, though Hikitsu suspected he was doing much the same thing that he was, keeping everything inside.  
  
Sighing, Takiko nodded. Her horse didn't scatter to the winds as she first assumed when she let it free, instead it seemed almost reluctant to go, and it nudged her shoulder questioningly. Of course they wouldn't do too well out in the forest, they were tamed horses, not wild ones, but it was better than forcing them to journey over the mountains with them. She giggled softly and stroked the horse's feather soft mane, until she got the notion that the other two were waiting for her.  
  
Hikitsu wasn't bluffing when he said the trail was going to be rough, although there was a vague one carved into the rock from thousands of years of travel by foot, it was uneven and rough. Well, Takiko found herself thinking, at least I'm not expected to scale any rocks.  
  
They walked in silence, and that gave Takiko time to think and steam over the way the others treated her. Not only did they treat her like a child, but they also seemed to expect by some miracle that she was able read all of these silent messages they sent her. She wasn't perfect and she wasn't helpless, and she definitely wasn't psychic, yet they must have expected all three from her.   
  
There was a slight fork ahead in their path, the main path was easily identifiable, but there was also a weak one that seemed to veer off from the regular one. Something about that secondary path caught Takiko's interest, and she asked if they might be able to take that one instead.  
  
"This one is the one that we're -sure- will get us where we need to go. Do you want to get us lost?"  
  
Perhaps he hadn't meant to sound as snide as he did, but something about Hikitsu's choice of words got to her, and her face scrunched up in frustration. "Of -course- that's what I want, Hikitsu, you know my one joy is making things harder for myself"  
  
Hikitsu's footsteps slowed and he sighed, turning around to face Takiko. Hatsui, as usual, seemed impartial and at least slightly out of it, though his eyes flickered with faint interest at the potential for conflict. "Look, Takiko, I apologize for being short with you, I just--"  
  
"You don't have to explain, Hikitsu. It's so clear, so -perfectly- clear what you think of me and all of this. You think this is all my fault...because it -is- isn't it? Like it was my fault that the bandits attacked the Hatsui's gypsies...and like it was my fault the villagers attacked us. It was -my- fault those hitogoroshi guys decided to overthrow the palace when they did, wasn't it? Because they wanted ME, and you hate me because you're forced to leave with me instead of staying where you think you belong. You don't have me along by -choice- but because you have to! Don't think I don't know that."  
  
Takiko huffed, and turned, storming off to follow the weaker path along a curve. Hikitsu started to follow after her, but Hatsui grabbed his shoulder and held her back. "She'll be back, she just needs some time to be alone."  
  
"-How- can you be so calm about what she just said?" Hikitsu frowned.  
  
"Well...she's right, isn't she? You wouldn't act so outraged unless it was the truth. Let her get over her fit, then we'll go."  
  
Takiko stopped short after she traveled around twenty yards from that boulder that acted as a wall that separated her from Hikitsu and Hatsui. She glanced back over her shoulder, her irritation growing a bit when she realized Hikitsu -wasn't- chasing after her. In her mind the two of them found her expendable and unnecessary, just how everyone else saw her.  
  
"I just....UGH!!!!!!" Takiko nearly screeched, unable to find any words that would do her anger justice. Here she was in a strange world that -she- didn't want to be in, seeing more in the past two days than she had experienced in her entire life...and being expected to act like nothing was wrong. Well maybe she had a problem with shutting off her emotions, but did they have to think of her as an annoyance just because she wanted to scream and cry and run and hide? Wouldn't that be the -natural- reaction to seeing so much death and pain stuffed into such a short time?  
  
Apparently it wasn't here.  
  
She shivered and pulled Hikitsu's coat tighter around her body, a few pebbles rolling off the rock and over her shoe. There was a faint rumble overhead, and Takiko lifted her eyes to see an avalanche of rocks cascading like a waterfall over the cliff above. She turned and began to run, but her legs moved impossibly slow, and the rocks loamed dangerously overhead, falling closer...closer...  
  
It was not the unforgiving force of a rock that knocked the wind out of her, rather it was the force of another body against her own, shoving her to the ground. She could still hear the rocks falling, and she refused to open her eyes until the sounds of the crashing avalanche stopped.  
  
When she finally did crack an eye open, she saw a man hovering over her, obviously he had kept the rocks from crashing into her. He pulled back and winced, his face sweaty, strings of chin-length blonde hair stuck to his face. Takiko scooted back a bit, he wasn't a -huge- man, but he was big enough to be intimidating, taller and a bit more buff than Hikitsu and Hatsui. Still, there was no malice to his face, and if he had just -saved- her, there was no need to run from him, was there?  
  
"Where did you...?"  
  
"Are you all right, priestess?" The man breathed, his emerald eyes wide with concern as his hand massaged into his left shoulder, moving it a bit and wincing in the process. When she nodded slowly, his straight face turned into a tentative grin. "Good...I was afraid I accidentally hurt you."  
  
"Where did you come from? And who are you?" Takiko blinked and crawled over to him, her knees getting scraped up by sharp shards of rock. She noted the careful way in which he moved his shoulder "are -you- hurt?"  
  
"My name's Urumiya...I've been following you ever since you got on the mountain, I sensed danger...so I kept close."  
  
"Yes...your subterfuge even fooled me." Someone behind them sneered, and Takiko turned to see a cloaked figure emerge from behind the rocks. "Quite a cute trick you managed, congratulations...you've succeeded in making my job just -that- much more difficult."  
  
Unlike with Urumiya, there was definitely an aura of evil that surrounded this newcomer. Takiko cringed almost reflexively when she saw a flash of an azure eye from the shadows the hood of the cloak provided. What monster hid itself beneath it?  
  
"And just who are you?" Urumiya narrowed his eyes and rose slowly to his feet, his clothes now slightly torn from his quick rescue, but other than his shoulder he seemed absent of any major injuries, and he still stood strong.  
  
"You can call me...Kumori." He informed them, and a human hand appeared from inside the cloak. That was as shocking as anything to Takiko; she had expected some sort of grotesque claw or paws to be hidden inside. He snapped his fingers and from the rock wall beside them, two shadows crawled out of stone and slunk to them, looking like the after-image of some hellish demon. "Now, give me the Genbu priestess and I'll call off my minions, otherwise you can look forward to a quick death of being ripped apart by these remnants of the underworld."  
  
Urumiya smirked and ushered for Takiko to stay behind him, which she did with little argument. For shadows, the two demons seemed rather realistic; she could make out their drooling mouths and beady eyes easily. "So is that it, -Kumori- or whoever you are...you can't fight me man to man?"  
  
"He can't fight you man to man because he's a -monster-, a hideous monster!" Takiko couldn't shut herself up before she found herself shouting, "Why else would he hide underneath that cloak?"  
  
Kumori sneered, and long fingers curled around the edge of his hood to push it backward and reveal his face. What stood before them was -not- some disfigured monster, but perhaps as perfect a specimen for a man as Takiko had ever come across, save for the scars that ran from the bridge of his nose to his jaw on one side of his face. Three scars, like a cat had dug its claws too deep into his face. He had a well groomed mane of dark brown hair that almost worked as well as his hood did to cover his face, and his eyes were a bright, insane amber. "I suggest you rethink your words, -girl-...I can find ways to make your death much more torturous."  
  
With a swish from his ebony cloak, Kumori turned away. "Kill them." He ordered the shadows, his voice holding an air of indifference. As he walked away the demon shadows reared back on their haunches and sprang at them, but Takiko had just enough time to see the man fade easily into nothing before she was knocked to the ground by one of the shadows.  
  
"Agh! Urumiya, help!" Takiko pleaded, throwing her hands in front of her face to fend off vicious attacks from the demon's jagged teeth. It cut into her skin, the wounds stinging as if they had been poisoned, but every time she tried to crawl away it would pounce her again as a cat would a mouse it was playing with. Kicking and screaming, she finally felt the demon relent, and when she opened her eyes she saw Urumiya pulling back and dropping a sharp piece of rock, the demon dissolving into the air.  
  
Urumiya leaned against the cliff and ran his hand over his forehead, wiping off beads of sweat that dribbled down his face. He could barely breathe he was so exhausted, and yet he felt energized at the same time...the threat was gone, those shadows or demons were gone and the priestess was safe. If it weren't for the spiked pain in his shoulder he probably would have laughed.  
  
"Are you okay?" Takiko looked at him, brushing off bits of dirt and rock from the coat Hikitsu had let her borrow. He nodded vaguely, but Takiko could tell by his slightly pallid skin that he wasn't doing too great. She walked over to him and gingerly touched the shoulder he didn't seem to be favoring, and smiled.  
  
"...Thank you."  
  
Urumiya chuckled softly and shook his head "Think nothing of it, priestess..."  
  
"You can call me Takiko." She smiled brightly, and took his hand to lead him back down the path that she had taken, away from Hikitsu "come on, I'm sure Hikitsu and Hatsui will love to meet you!"  
  
Hatsui covered his mouth to hide a yawn as he looked up, and saw Takiko rounding that boulder leading a tired looking man. He felt a grin marking his face, but he kept in any of the perverse jokes that popped into his head. While he certainly didn't recognize this man, he didn't react alarmed like Hikitsu did.  
  
"Takiko, who is that man?!"  
  
"Urumiya...he saved me from some falling rocks but I think he's hurt..."  
  
Hikitsu blinked in surprise and looked from Takiko to the newcomer, eyeing him skeptically, but finally relenting and accepting that Urumiya was no killer out to harm the priestess. When he stepped closer, Urumiya allowed him to inspect his wound...which seemed painful but it didn't look too awfully serious.  
  
"Come on, then...the next town shouldn't be too far away, and you can get that cared for there."  
  
"-And-...." Hatsui pressed for him to continue.  
  
"...And we can go ahead and stop at an inn for the night before we continue on to Secaar."  
  
Hatsui grinned and nodded in acknowledgement that those were the words he wanted to hear, tearing himself away from the rocky wall and making his way over to the group.  
  
"-So-...Urumiya, right? Kinda odd that you just happened to be there to save her from those rocks, now isn't it?"  
  
  



	7. Bleeding hearts

Chapter seven  
  
"From morning 'til night, I stayed out of sight. Didn't recognize what I'd become. No more than alive, I barely survived. In a word, overrun."-Pink Floyd  
  
The sun had reluctantly sunk underneath the horizon before they found any signs of human life other than themselves. The inn looked somewhat decrepit from the outside, but by that time Takiko didn't care if they had come across tents with cots she was so exhausted. Every step forward she took only reminded her of the blisters forming on the heels of her feet. By the time they reached the slightly askew doors of the inn, Takiko was leaning against Hikitsu for support.  
  
The tired old man seemed to regain some of his youthful energy when he heard the tiny bell attached to the door tinkle, and he looked up to see four worn out, hopeful looking customers.  
  
"Are there any rooms available?"  
  
"Are there any rooms available...?" The man dropped his book and hopped up onto his chair, being just small enough to do so. He swept his hand around him in one grand gesture and beamed "Why you are looking at is the finest inn in these here parts, an-"  
  
"Cut the gimmicks." Hatsui interjected, his hand covering his mouth to stifle a yawn. "We just want some rooms, okay? And maybe some alcohol..."  
  
"And maybe some medical supplies...my friend's kinda hurt." Takiko added.  
  
The little old man climbed down from his chair and waddled to the back of the room, removing three keys from a slab of wood decorated with slightly crooked nails. He made his way over to the group and handed the keys to them.  
  
"You pay in the morning, there's a tavern back there." He motioned behind him "and if you go back there, ask the lady and she should have something for -any- of your ailments."  
  
Hikitsu bowed slightly, taking the keys and handing one to Takiko and one to Hatsui. "Anou...I'm going to head on to bed. The three of you shouldn't stay up too late."  
  
With that he turned and climbed the steps to the upper level, his movements wavering slightly with exhaustion. Hatsui watched his progress with a quirked eyebrow.  
  
"Is he always going to act like a father? That's really going to get on my nerves."  
  
"I think it's sweet!" Urumiya told them, grinning stupidly to cover up for the fact that he wanted to wince. Gently he probed his shoulder, and the pain that he was greeted with was so overwhelming it made him shudder. "Can...we get some drinks now?"  
  
"You read my mind." Hatsui shrugged off his coat as he walked into the empty room, which must have served as a tavern. The business wasn't too good, though Hatsui did note with surprise that one loner was holed up in the back, nursing a bottle. The chairs were overturned on the table, and the long, rough-cut wooden counter looked as if it had seen better days. Still, something managed to add glamour to the otherwise dull room, and when Hatsui's eyes landed on the girl behind the counter, he grinned.  
  
"What can I get you?" The black-haired beauty asked coolly, resting one hand on the counter top as she tilted her head to the side and watched the three of them, though more specifically Hatsui.   
  
"Sake for me...and...ah, some bandages for the big guy." Hatsui smirked and pulled out one of the stools, plopping down on it and propping his elbows up on the counter top.  
  
"Oh? Is he hurt?" She turned her attention to Urumiya and blinked.  
  
"It's nothing." Urumiya shook his head "and I'll have a water if it's not too much of an inconvenience."  
  
"Inconvenience?" the woman laughed, twirling her finger around an ebony spiral of hair. "It's no problem. I'll be right back."  
  
She managed an extra smile toward Hatsui before disappearing into another room. Takiko couldn't help but smile.  
  
"Hatsui....if your eyes bugged out any more they wouldn't be in your head anymore."  
  
"Shut up" Hatsui scowled, but Takiko continued to smile sweetly. She looked around and found a table that wasn't too far away from the counter, and pulled off the chairs. After dusting off the tabletop, she sat back in one of the chairs and sighed with relief when the pressure to the soles of her feet was alleviated. Urumiya opted to sit at the table as well, instead of at the counter.   
  
When the woman came back, she held a bottle of sake in one hand and a glass of water in the other, while she carried a box of something under her arm. The glass of water was slick enough that it slipped from her grasp, but as Hatsui watched the glass's plummet to the ground, the glass changed directions and instead landed safely on the counter with a gentle click.  
  
Hatsui fell backward out of his chair.  
  
"How did you...I mean...-what- was that?" he asked, gripping the edge of the counter to pull himself up, and fixing his bewildered stare on the woman. Her cheeks grew slightly red as she looked from the glass to Hatsui and realized what she'd done.  
  
"I...I mean...well, I don't know...it's a gift."  
  
"You can make things levitate?" Takiko's eyes were as wide as Hatsui's as she leaned forward, almost out of her chair all together.  
  
"That and...things. It's hard to explain. You see...I'm a..."  
  
"A Genbu seishi?" Urumiya made it sound more like a statement than a question, and the other three turned to look at him. Iname managed a slow nod.  
  
"But how did you...?"  
  
"A feeling I guess. I was kind of hesitant to say something but when I saw that I was pretty sure."  
  
"I didn't notice." Hatsui looked at Urumiya skeptically.  
  
"That's because you were too busy ogling her -other- attributes." Takiko's grin didn't waver even when Hatsui shot her a glare that would kill. Finally her hyena smile died down, replaced by a soft one, and she smiled at Iname.  
  
"I'm Takiko, the Genbu no miko, and this is Hatsui and Urumiya."  
  
"I knew something was different about your clothes, but I would have never guessed..." Iname shook her head. "My name is Iname."  
  
"Iname..." Takiko watched her as she made her way around the counter and stepped over to her and Urumiya, handing him the box of bandages and the glass of water. "If you didn't already know, the empire of Hokkan is in a lot of trouble...and we need all the help we can get. Since you -are- a seishi...when we leave tomorrow, will you come with us?"  
  
"You mean...and lose all the opportunities I get here?" Iname held one hand to her heart and gasped, before rolling her eyes. "I would have -no- regrets about leaving this place. Trust me, I'm jumping at the chance to get out of here."  
  
"Then why not take me for a walk and show me all the wonderful sights of 'the finest inn in these here parts'" Hatsui asked innocently, though with a grin. "I'm not ready to conk out yet."  
  
"Oh we've got the world's most beautiful well out back." Iname laughed and nodded toward the back door. "People come from all over to see it. Come on and I'll show ya."  
  
With a nod, Hatsui hopped off the stool and grabbed up his bottle of sake, throwing his coat over his shoulder and following Iname out.  
  
Takiko sighed and shook her head, before looking to Urumiya, who was fiddling with the box the bandage was housed in.  
  
"Is something wrong?"  
  
Urumiya shook his head, his eyes watching Hatsui until he disappeared. Finally he looked up at Takiko. "Of course not." He palmed the bandage and took his glass of water in the other hand "I'm just going to go to bed, okay?"  
  
"So what's your story?" Hatsui asked, a minute or two into their walk. Iname looked at him with her cyan eyes, uncomprehending. He lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug and made an off-handed gesture. "I mean...why are you holed up -here- of all places. A pretty girl like you...shit, you could go anywhere you wanted."  
  
"Yeah?" Iname sighed and ran her fingers back through her black mane, and once they reached the well she seated herself on its stony rim. "I suppose I'm just kind of hiding out for now."  
  
"From what?"  
  
"My parents." She rolled her eyes. "Every time I see them it's 'when are you going to settle down? When are you going to get married and have kids?' like that's all there is to life, or something."  
  
"Mmm...well I never had parents, not in a conventional sense anyway." Hatsui told her, settling down beside her "So I guess I never had that kind of nagging."  
  
"Lucky. I wish -I- didn't have parents." Iname laughed slightly "No...that's not true. I love them, I really do. But they're so...strict. I guess being the youngest of nine meant they were especially protective of me."  
  
"-Nine-?" Once again Hatsui's eyes nearly bugged from their sockets, almost as if that number was just as surprising as the floating glass incident. "Your parents must have been busy."  
  
"I don't think they ever progressed past that honey moon stage, that's for sure." She rubbed her forehead before resting her chin in her hand. "I don't know. It's like...in the town I came from my parents were high society...and being able to feed and cloth and house more kids meant you were wealthier. You know how there used to be that thing where the more cattle you owned, the richer you were? Man...no wonder my symbol means 'cow'."  
  
"Well it's definitely not because you're fat. You look...amazing." Hatsui admitted, though his timid advances were hidden by his arrogance.  
  
Iname laughed and put her arm around her stomach, a subconscious attempt to hide something she was ashamed of. "Well...thank you very much! You're not so bad looking yourself."  
  
"So...you're really coming with us, ne?" He leaned in a bit, his lips hovering only a few inches away from her face. "Good...that'll give us some time to get to know each other."  
  
"-Plenty- of time..." Iname winked and smiled coyly, before slipping away and getting to her feet. "Don't you need your rest? It looks like you guys have been on the road all day."  
  
"And then some..." Sighing, Hatsui pulled himself up to a standing positioned, and staggered after Iname as she started back toward the inn. "Let me tell you...being shaken awake before -dawn- will ruin your entire day."  



	8. Deception

Chapter eight  
  
"I've paid my dues, time after time. I've done my sentence, but committed no crime. And bad mistakes...I've made a few. I've had my share of kicks in my face, but I've come through!"-Queen  
  
"Daddy! Daddy! Help!"  
  
"Suru!" Hikitsu sat up with a start, a cold sweat dribbling off his forehead. With his good eye he scanned the dark room, but there was nothing save for the fading ghosts of his dreams. Suru, running toward him. Suru, smiling up at him. Suru, tears staining his cheeks...but were they his tears or his father's?  
  
"...I failed...god, Suru...I'm sorry"  
  
He slid out from underneath the cotton sheets of the bed and made his way to the window. The floor was streaked with fragments of the moon's light that filtered in from the slit between the beat, aqua colored shades. He pulled those shades apart and leaned out the window enough so that he would have a good view of the gibbous moon. He refused to let himself cry, knowing it wouldn't aid him in any way, and yet the tears insisted on burning like acid in the corner of his eyes.   
  
-Why- Suru? Hikitsu asked Genbu silently, why did you have to steal my son?  
  
In the depths of his heart he knew the answer to why Genbu would let such an injustice exist, he just refused to accept it. Hikitsu could not be the -protector- he was meant to be to the priestess if his life was dedicated to his son. It was just his god's way of telling him "Hey, don't forget...this isn't -your- life, it's mine. You live by -my- rules and you follow my desires, not your own heart's."  
  
He let his head drop as he gripped the stonewall of the window, his grayish brown hair draping in front of his eyes. He could rebel, he knew that, and kill himself now to just get it over with...to just be with his family, but that would be the coward's way out, not to mention it would be selfish. The priestess would need him, his protection, and his powers...without him they couldn't summon Genbu and that would just allow more pain like what he had known to go on. He couldn't die until he knew those bastards would never be allowed to cause pain again.  
  
"Hikitsu? You okay man?"  
  
Hikitsu turned to see Hatsui leaning against the doorframe, still wearing his damned coat as if he had slept in it. He nodded vaguely.  
  
"You should be getting all the sleep you can."  
  
"Call me an insomniac." Hatsui wrinkled his nose and straightened himself, taking another step into the darkened room. "I've had about all the sleep I can handle."  
  
"I know what you mean..." Hikitsu agreed and let his eyes trail back toward the window. He let the sounds of the crickets and the rustle of the wind through the trees draw him in to the point of zoning out, and he was startled when he felt Hatsui's hand on his shoulder.  
  
"No one expects you to be made out of stone, Hikitsu. What happened yesterday...would destroy anyone. It's only natural to feel pain and anger, bottling that up...will only kill you in the end."  
  
Hikitsu narrowed his eyes for a moment, in spite of himself, and pulled away. "Don't tell me how I should grieve for my son, Hatsui."  
  
Rolling his eyes, Hatsui took a step backward. "Fine, Hikitsu. I won't try to help..." He turned to walk away before turning back and adding.  
  
"I know you lend an ear and a shoulder for anyone to cry on when they're upset...why won't you let yourself that same luxury? Why hold some fucked up double standard against yourself, because I tell you what...no one is going to be able to understand why you're there for them yet you won't let them be there for you. Are we not -good- enough, Hikitsu? Is that it? Are we not worthy to be bestowed with the opportunity to help you with your problems? Or are you just afraid of letting anyone know that strong guy act is just that. Like I said...no one expects you to be made out of stone."  
  
With that final statement, he turned and slipped out of the room. Hikitsu let out a resigned sigh and ran his fingers through his hair; he couldn't expect Hatsui to understand...nor anyone for that matter. If Hatsui chose to be offended by that then so be it, Hikitsu didn't have the energy or desire to justify himself.  
  
But really...what was the point of caring about people and letting them care about you? In the end it only led to suffering and separation.  
  
  
Takiko wanted to hum as they started on the road that led away from the inn and the mountains and toward Secaar, which was "over yonder" according to the old man. It was hard -not- to be cheerful, despite all the disaster they'd been met with, they already had four seishi...and the way it was going the other three wouldn't be that hard to find. Then they could summon Genbu and everything would be solved...at least that was the idealized version of it.  
  
Hatsui and Iname followed behind Hikitsu and Takiko, off in their own world of high school romance. Urumiya lagged behind a bit, silent. It was obvious something was bothering him but any time Takiko tried to ask, he insisted he was fine. Whatever it was...Takiko wished she could help him with it, Urumiya really did seem like a sweet guy. A little on the dumb side maybe, but sweet.  
  
It was a tiny plea for help that broke into her thoughts and made Takiko stop dead in her tracks. Hikitsu must have heard it too, because his steps slowed a great deal from the hurried stride he was walking at before.  
  
"Shh! You guys hear something?"  
  
Their chatter died down, and Takiko looked around, straining to hear the noise again.  
  
There it was, that tiny cry...and Takiko glanced up at Hikitsu before heading off into the thinly planted forest, toward the noise. It sounded like a child's cry in Takiko's opinion, and she was right...not too far off the road they stumbled upon a little girl curled up beside a giant willow tree, her tiny fists grinding into her eyes.  
  
"Little girl...what's wrong?" Takiko asked, trying to make her voice sound as soothing as possible, as she knelt down in front of the child. The girl looked up and wiped her tears away with grimy little hands, her violet eyes wide and shining with fresh tears.  
  
"M-my mommy and daddy...I can't find them..."  
  
"What's a little girl doing out -here-? Aside from the inn...the nearest place that has people is Secaar...and that's pretty damn far for a kid who just wandered from her parents." Hatsui said skeptically, but Takiko ignored him. Was he just -trying- to be a jerk?  
  
"What's your name, honey? We'll help you find your parents." Takiko smiled softly.  
  
"A-...Aiji." The little girl sniffled, and clambered to her feet, her white dress stained with dirt as if she had been out in the wild for some time. Despite her messy appearance, Takiko thought she was adorable, and this was someone who rarely took a liking to kids. Aiji gripped a beat up teddy bear with stitching running up the entire length of his stomach, like the bear had been split open in some obscene surgery.  
  
"Okay...Aiji. Where do you and your parents live?" Takiko asked her, taking her hand.  
  
"Secaar." The little girl pouted and clutched her bear tighter.  
  
"See?" Hatsui snorted, "I told you so."  
  
"We're heading that way anyway. Aiji, do you want to come with us and we'll look for your parents on the way?"  
  
She nodded mutely, and so Takiko rose to her feet.  
  
"Wait!" The child jumped a bit, and Takiko looked down at her questioningly.  
  
"Me and Shi are tired...can we have a piggy back ride?" Aiji pleaded, holding out the ratty looking teddy bear in front of her.  
  
Takiko laughed and nodded, getting down on her hands and knees so that the girl could climb up onto her back and wrap her arms around her neck, the bear mashed between them. She got up again, though this time much more slowly...afraid she would accidentally knock the little girl off.  
  
With that they turned and started off down the path. "So your name's Aiji, huh? That's a pretty name...and Shi's your bear?"  
  
"Uh-huh..."  
  
"Why'd you name him that?" Takiko asked, giggling.  
  
"Because...." The little girl shrugged, and clutched Takiko tighter with one arm while she loosened her grip with the other to pull her bear up. "It means pain!"  
  
A ripping sound caught Hikitsu's attention, and his head snapped to the right in time to see a glint of metal. He couldn't open his mouth in time to shout a warning before the knife plunged deep into Takiko's back.  
  
"TAKIKO!!!!"  
  
Takiko let out an ear-piercing scream and pitched forward, sending them both tumbling to the ground. By the time the seishi crowded around her, the knife was gone but the wound was deep and gushing blood stained her back and began a tiny puddle around her.   
  
"Where's that little bitch?" Hatsui snarled angrily, pulling Takiko up and into his lap. Takiko was gasping for breath, and she reached up weakly to grab onto Hatsui's coat. Their eyes met, and her emerald eyes were wide with naked fear. Hatsui huddled her closer, pressing his hand into the wound to try and stop the blood, but it was no use.  
  
"Don't worry priestess...it'll be all right."  
  
Hikitsu tore his eyes away and searched the scene for the little girl, surely she couldn't have disappeared that quickly. Somehow she had…all that was left was a bit of stuffing. It struck Hikitsu as odd, but he wasn't able to think about it, because Hatsui's distraught voice brought him down to Earth and made him remember what was important.  
  
"Hikitsu! Oh shit...she's dying!"  
  
  



	9. Falling...Fading...

Chapter nine  
  
"If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me? Well I must be traveling on now...there's too many places I've got to see. If I stay here with you, girl, things just couldn't be the same. 'Cuz I'm as free as a bird now...and this bird you cannot change."-Lynryd Skynrd  
  
By the time Hikitsu reached Takiko's side it was too late. The life had faded from her eyes and left two dulled hazel orbs staring blankly up, fixed on some unknown point, and her complexion had taken on a pale blue cast. So much deterioration in such a short time...Hikitsu wouldn't have been honestly surprised if there were hints of decay already in the minutes that had passed since the girl had stabbed her.  
  
He felt his façade crumpling, this was too much, and too soon to his son's death...that memories that he had just began to sooth over were once again burning their way through his mind. He felt short of breath, on the verge of a panic attack, when he remembered what Takiko had told him Hatsui could do.  
  
"Hatsui...you have to bring her back." There wasn't even a hint of a question in his words, it was a demand. Without Takiko there was no purpose for them, and no way they could summon Genbu. More deaths would go on, and the empire would continue to deteriorate...  
  
But more than that, if she really was dead...Hikitsu had lost a friend. Stripped of her title and her power, he realized that he would still want to be a part of that girl's life...in such a short period of time she had managed to grow on him. He -needed- her.  
  
Iname blinked slowly, and looked from Hikitsu to Hatsui, her face still pale from the initial shock. "How would you be able to do...that..."  
  
Her voice trailed off, and she watched Hatsui remove his necklace, placing the metal of the ankh over Takiko's heart. His hand had only just begun to glow that dim green when Takiko began to shift a bit in Hatsui's arms...almost as if she had been poised, waiting to come back and unwilling to leave her body.  
  
When she opened her eyes there was an awed gasp that came from every seishi except Hatsui. Takiko rolled over into the grass and coughed dryly, trembling weakly. If she hadn't looked so disoriented Hikitsu would have ran to her and scoop her up in an unrelenting embrace, simply out of relief. As it was, none of them moved until Takiko sat up and opened her eyes.  
  
"What...what happened?"  
  
"Priestess..." Urumiya breathed a sigh of relief and bowed his head. "You're all right."  
  
"Just goes to show you how much you can't trust anyone." With a smirk, Hatsui got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Are you up to continue on to Secaar, Takiko?"  
  
"I...I think so." She responded, holding the back of her head as if it pained her as she got to her feet. Hikitsu was right at her side, keeping her steady.   
  
"I never thought I'd see the day..." Iname shook her head, too awe struck to be smug, or coy. It almost made Hatsui laugh, when Iname was stunned, she acted more like a little girl than a rebellious woman. It struck him as odd, but then again...weren't there two sides to them all?   
  
  
Takiko trailed along behind them as they continued down the twisted path that would eventually lead them to Secaar, the "holy city". Her slow, careful movements contrasted to the near bounce to her steps she had had earlier, although Takiko had never been an excessively cheery person, the shadow that crossed her face was unusual even to her. She felt so strange, but she couldn't discuss this with the others, they wouldn't possibly understand, and it would just make them...suspicious. The only one that looked back at her and eyed her somewhat strangely was Hatsui, but she ignored him.  
  
She appeared calm on the outside, but on the inside her heart was slamming against her ribs as if she had taken several hits of speed, a wounded bird striving desperately to be free of its ivory cage. She twisted her fingers into the edge of her now tattered skirt and prayed...to whatever nameless god might be listening. If she messed -this- up it would certainly mean her life.  
  
If she couldn't keep up the masquerade she would die...and not necessarily by a seishi's hand, either.  



End file.
